Area doctors are asking Norfolk Council to have another try at removing Rogers Wireless equipment from the Simcoe water tower.

Council abandoned its efforts to have the equipment relocated last October, after finding out that it would cost at least $316,000 to get out of a long-term lease with Rogers. But a letter from 11 local physicians urges councillors to reopen negotiations with Rogers and have the equipment moved to a “more responsible” location.

“There is an increasing body of evidence linking the radio frequency radiation emitted from cellphone towers to serious health effects, including cancers and childhood leukemia,” says the letter, dated April 2.

“It is impossible at this time to feel comfortable knowing a cellphone tower is located near an elementary school. The levels of exposure on a daily basis for these young people are not consistent with prudent health policy at this time. Action is required to minimize or eliminate the potential risks. Simply put, the tower must be moved away from school children where health and immune systems may be less resistant than an adult’s.”

The letter is signed by Dr. Jeff Tschirhart, former acting medical officer of health for Norfolk, and 10 other doctors in Simcoe, Port Dover and Jarvis.

About 20 people living near the tower, which is close to Elgin Avenue School and Norfolk General Hospital, have complained about symptoms such as nausea, dizziness and headaches since the Rogers antenna was installed last February.

Hardest hit is Dan Currie, who is unable to live in his home, located just below the tower. Currie will be one of several people appearing at tonight’s council session to ask politicians to revisit the issue.

Also throwing his support behind Currie and his neighbours is Brant MP Lloyd St. Amand. He has contacted Industry Canada, which regulates telecommunication towers, asking them to intervene in the situation.

St. Amand acknowledged that the Simcoe tower is meeting Health Canada safety standards. But, like the physicians, he believes more study is needed to rule out a possible health risk.

“I have asked Industry Canada to check and recheck that our standards are not falling behind other jurisdictions,” St. Amand said on Monday. He said many European countries have banned cellphone towers in locations that are close to schools and houses.

“Maybe our standards are substandard, compared to other jurisdictions,” he said. “Let’s have a real careful look at this.”

The recent boom in third generation mobile phones may be the main culprit for colony collapse disorder in honeybees.

Dr. Mae-Wan Ho

Colony collapse a new phenomenon

Bees worldwide have been involved in a disappearing act called 'colony collapse disorder' over the past two years [1] (Mystery of Disappearing Honeybees, this series), with little sign of the disease or infestations that have resulted in massive loss of colonies in the past. The bees simply leave the hives and fail to return. Beekeepers and scientists alike are stymied as to the cause of this strange phenomenon.

One likely culprit is a new class of systemic pesticides, which are not only sprayed on crops, but also used universally to dress seeds in conventional agriculture, and can confuse and disorientate bees at very low concentrations [2] (Requiem for the Honeybee, this series). Another candidate is radiation from mobile phone base stations that has become nearly ubiquitous in Europe and North America where the bees are vanishing; this possibility is considerably strengthened by preliminary findings that bees fail to return to the hives if cordless phone base stations are placed in them.

For some time now, honeybees have been disappearing from farmers’ hives without a trace. Dr. Mae-Wan Ho and Prof. Joe Cummins on the trail of possible culprits

Honeybees vanishing worldwide

The first alarm was sounded in autumn 2006. Honeybees are disappearing across the United States, with half of the States affected and beekeeper losing 30 to 90 percent of colonies; one beekeeper with 1 200 colonies expected 9 to survive the winter [1]. The problem began more than two years ago and has intensified in recent months [1-5]. The bees simply vanish relatively suddenly, with little or no dead adults in or near the colonies, leaving behind the queen and a few young. In cases where the colony appears to be actively collapsing the workforce seems to be made up of young adult bees, insufficient to feed the brood, but are reluctant to consume provided feed [5]. This “colony collapse disorder” (CCD) is particularly devastating for growers of fruits and vegetables, as they depend on insect pollinators.

Since then, CCD has been reported from Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and the UK [6], where one of the biggest beekeepers lost 23 of his 40 hives. But the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said that “there is absolutely no evidence” of CCD in the UK.

CCD has baffled scientists, because no one knows what causes it [5], and ongoing efforts are being made to identify possible pathogens in the bees and chemical residues in pollen, honey and bees. Viruses, fungal diseases, parasitic mites, pesticides, or chemical designed to control mites have considered by the authorities [7], as have GM crops [8-9], and mobile phones [10] (Mobile Phones and Vanishing Bees, this series). So how good is the evidence for the different suspects?